Years from now, Devin Barks will probably look back on what happened to him on the race track Saturday at PGARA Speedway Park and chalk it up as a valuable lesson learned.
With 12 laps complete in the 20-lap Admiral Roofing mini stock main event and leading the rest of the field by almost half a lap, Barks made a rookie mistake that cost the race.
Coming up on lapped traffic out of Turn 2, Barks made the decision to go high on the back straightaway to try to get past Brent Falkowsky and Gabe Jackson of Dawson Creek. But instead of making the pass, Barks had to let off the throttle to avoid a collision and spun out, forcing him to the back of the 11-car field on the restart. His car was fast and he quickly got back into fourth place, but couldn't catch Justin Hall, who seized the lead and held it the rest of the way over Livio Ouellet and Brad Wallin.
Hall also won the mini stock feature race two weeks ago on opening night but was forced to bring a different car to the track Saturday when he blew the engine of his Dodge Rampage in hot-lapping on Wednesday.
"I had to bring out the backup car, it was just sitting in a field a few days ago," Hall said. "Devin had half a track on us and I knew the only way I was going to catch him was with a caution and I wasn't going to wait around for one."
Hall was looking forward to trying to reel in Barks, who started at the front after posting a poor qualifying time due to a mechanical problem with his axle.
"It sucks that he spun," said Hall. "It would have been nice to have a caution [caused by somebody else] to catch up to him and race him. Last year, me and him had one good race where he fought on the outside of me for almost the whole main event and he got me on the last corner of the last lap. I was trying to make a comeback off that one."
Meanwhile, in the 20-lap Richmond Steel street stock main, PGARA president Chris Arronge was back in the winner's circle. Arronge caught up to Jerry Gascon and ducked low making the last turn on Lap 7 to take over the lead. Adam Huitema of Dawson Creek stayed within striking distance but lacked the necessary horsepower to catch Arronge.
Arronge, a multiple series winner in a long career as a PGARA driver, knows the fast way around that three-eighths mile oval and used that to his advantage in his first races of the season. Arronge timed in quickest in 20.3 seconds, one-tenth of a second ahead of Huitema.
"We spent a lot of time in the shop this year and the car is good, it was one of them nights when everything works good," said Arronge. "I know this track well now. This is why I like racing. It's the one thing in the world I'm actually good at and I've gotta do it or I'll lose it."
Gason finished third to retain his points lead.
Jasmine Sakawsky won all three of her races in the hornet beginners class.
